Monday, May 28, 2012

Your Turn: Sprint Cup Series From Charlotte On FOX

The Sprint Cup Series race this weekend was run at the Charlotte Motor Speedway under sunny skies and then a clear night. There were no TV technical problems or red flag periods.

FOX provided the coverage with Chris Myers hosting Darrell and Michael Waltrip in the Hollywood Hotel for the pre-race show. The senior Waltrip then moved upstairs to join Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds to call the race. Pit road reporters were Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Dick Berggren and Krista Voda.

Earlier this week, Berggren confirmed that this would be his final season working on TV for FOX. He said he was not planning to retire, but stay busy with his publishing and family interests. He confirmed that he will continue to have an active role in the racing world.

I am on hiatus from watching Sprint Cup Series races live on TV until Pocono when the TNT coverage begins. I made this choice after watching the Darlington telecast. I will view the Charlotte race on Monday and add my opinion in the comments section just like every other reader.

Please give us your summary of the FOX telecast and thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.

46 comments:

Fox tries to sell us "side by side". What the actually give us is more ads! Show a Farmers commercial side by side with the 5 car...show a Bud ad side by side with the 29...they must think we are idiots!!

Every week I say the racing and Fox can't get any worse and have to eat mu words the very next week. Both the race and the race coverage was horrible and it was made much worse by the comparison to the Indy 500 race and coverage. The side-by-side commercials are apparently just another way for Fox to milk the advertisers for more money. Frequently, the car they are showing on the race side just happens to be the one sponsored by the ad on the other side. Looks very much like they're selling camera time rather than showing the race. WHY DO I KEEP PUNISHING MYSELF?

This was just too painful. You know it's bad Michael Waltrip actually missed his own car #55 going to the garage during a Arron's side by side commercial. That was worth at least 10 plugs by him. DW is just rambling on like an Alzheimer's patient, he just says things that make no sense and everyone else in the booth just ignores it. I'm tired of yelling at the tv.

The Indy 500 provides a great reference in terms of both competition and coverage. Indy was a much better race, no question, and it also boasted much better coverage. You know, I don't really feel bothered by much of the FOX coverage unless I have something to compare it to—for instance, just how much wider the shots were at Indy and how much better a race is when the frequent commercials are side-by-side for the whole race. FOX covered restarts and racing deep in the pack a little better, though right at the end they cut to Jeff Gordon having just passed Kevin Harvick, and began talking about how Jeff must be worried about "The Closer" stalking behind him. A real Marty Reid moment from the booth.

Also, score one for JD: the finish line shot cut out before they showed the 24 crossing the line and I was irked, as I've become increasingly skeptical of his ability to finish races and wanted to see him cross the line. Still not sure it's as much of an issue as JD makes it out to be.

Also,Lead changes at Indy: 35Lead changes at Charlotte: 31

Laps run at Indy: 200Laps run at Charlotte: 400

NASCAR needs to counteract this complex aero situation, whether it's with a big draft effect like the Indy cars, less aero push through softer tires or a rear diffuser, or (easiest and least honorable) lopping off a lot of the rear bodywork to make these cars easier to spin out and draw more cautions.

Luckily for the Fox booth, one of their Hendrick Heroes prevailed over the forces of evil (i.e. the remainder of the field) and saved them from having to talk too much about a different team. One can only imagine DW's tearful call to King Rick, begging forgiveness for mentioning those Roush people so much.

I broke down and joined the race not long after the start. I gave up after two full segments. Despite its own faults -- some major, some not -- the contrast in watching the highly professional ABC/ESPN/Disney presentation of the Indianapolis 500 as opposed to what Fox/NewsCorp gives was just too stark to take in the same day. My only lingering curiosity about this race and its telecast is if JD will a) make it all the way through and b) proclaim it even worse than Fox's effort at Darlington.

I'm not sure what happened to this year's coverage of the 600, but there was no mention of all the transitions the track would make as the sun goes down. It didn't dawn on me until it was dark and McReynolds said something about it. Nice change. That got me to thinking about how Fox has gotten away from the tech center crap ESPN still does. At least that's one positive to their coverage this year.

Aside from that, same lousy Fox coverage. Kasey Kahne doesn't get one mention until he moves into second. Terrible. Can't wait until TNT takes over.

That was bad.... After watching the INDY 500 and seeing the great shots they provided us I was ashamed to be watching the Nascar on Fox race. F is right if I could I would give that race coverage a Z if it went that far. WOW Fox seriously are you for real. Tight tight tight..... and Im one of your biggest fans man lay off the tight shots and jumping from one tight shot to another to another and then and in car cam. Yo this isnt Qualifying its a race..... WOW im ashamed.

Fox is a lost cause that seemed to find the light at Talladega but man this is getting ugly. ESPN did a much better job with the Nationwide race Never thought i'd say this but JD now I agree with you. I was telling non race fans who watched Indy that this would be the race to watch..... the way Fox broadcast tonights race made me eat my words I felt guilty after the first 10 laps FOX grow up and listen to the fans this is getting out of control

Oh and Zetrona im with after seeing these to races I enjoyed the 500 better. WOW never thought id see the day that i'd say that but man Fox is like a broken record someone needs to take it off the player and throw it out the window cause it sure is bad

Rhea here...I've been lurking for years, being fairly new to NASCAR. The only thing that's kept me going this year is the chat(s), Twitter, etc during the races. I am one of the folks who cannot stand DW's ramblings, and the boogity-that needs to be over and done with already. NASCAR is never going to pull in younger demos with that senile old man act he puts on.

I agree with others who've posted that they won't let the races keep them from doing something productive when the weather is nice. It was, however, extremely hot and humid here today (NW MO) so I had already decided to watch the race. Even took a 2hr nap so I'd be able to stay awake thru another NASCAR/Fox snooze fest. I'm not sure I'm glad I did!

Like JD, I will look for the light at the end of the tunnel (TNT) and keep up on the sport thru internet news sources, etc.

John, I'd like to say thank you for your efforts over the years. I've learned a lot from you and the Planeteers and been entertained and elightened at the same time. You provide thinking race fans with a valuable forum to communicate with each other. That means a lot.

What can I say that has not already been said? They missed most of Jeff Gordon's charge to the front. I didn't know Mark Martin ever fell out of the race. They kept it pretty tight all night long. They cued full screen replays during green flag racing. DW droned on and on and on. About the only part I enjoyed significantly was the Bud Moore piece.

You would think with all the technology they have, that they could use it to show battles and differentials, etc. One thing I was glad to see back was the pit in/out times. Really gives you a picture of how drivers moved forwards and backwards.

Far too often they mentioned drivers being "fastest on the track" or "closing the gap" a couple laps after the fact. By the time the viewer knew about it, the status quo changed.

I've listened every year as boy to the Indy 500 before TV started covering it live and did so yesterday. I tried to watch the 600 last night but just couldn't. It was moronic. DW is just a blathering fool with Mike Joy not far behind. Once again, they call the race as if we've never seen a race before. They spent minutes describing the 'paper on the grill' phenomenon with Biffle. We get it guys. Don't insult us. If you wanted tight shots of Biffle and whoever was challenging him, you got them. The biggest challenge for the Media will soon become how to come up with new excuses for Danica's pathetic performances(?). By the time she adapts to Nascar and its tracks, she'll be in a wheelchair and have been paid a Gazillion dollars. Way too many commercials and the SAME ones. At least get new ones. I can repeat the 'vanishing deductible' one in my sleep. I'm not sure the other Networks will be much better, but at least we won't see as much of the Waltrips.

Mr.D:I'm usually at one of these two American races on Memorial Day weekend, but this year at neither so watching TV was interesting to say the least.The Indy race was OK.The Coke 600 race was also OK.What was not OK for both races was the audio from either the broadcast teams at Indy or Charlotte.After listening to 30 to 45 minutes of each TV broadcast, I found myself switching to the Indy Radio or the PRN broadcast audio, simply because instead of issues or personalities, I simply wanted to HEAR the race being told to me as it happened.I'm older and, back in the days, the only way to experience a race(if you wern't there)was to grab a radio and follow the action.It's painful to listen to Mike Joy having to be a second fiddle while remembering him slogging around Mid Ohio after a drenching rainstorm trying to get to the tower for a broadcast and giving a great play-by-play.Lest we forget though - the ABC/ESPN team we praise for the Indy 500 broadcast on Sunday is the same bunch that we have From the end of July until November and, unless I've totally lost it, are subject to most of the greatest criticism offered in this blog over the past few years.It's important to recall that fellow blogger Sophia, just a few miles down I75 from me(and who, IMHO still has a crush on Digger) coined the term "BSPN" on use in this blog to describe the coverage from that network and yet it seems as if we're all looking forward to their coverage as a respite from FOX.I believe our common problem is that we're remembering the broadcasts of the 80's, 90's and early 00's which were basically radio broadcasts brought to television, without gimmicks, graphics or storylines. Those were the races we remember, keep on videotape and replay reliving the "good old days".(an aside: a guy I worked directly for in the 70's and 80's who was a former governor of California, was challenged on a flight en route from Washington to a Cali vacation to broadcast a fictional game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the NY Yankees, took a half hour to blend the greatest players of baseball into a broadcast that, as he got into it, attracted most of the plane's passengers into huddling close to the private quarters to hear what was a riviting broadcast of a truely great bb game that never happened.This is what we want, this is what we miss and this is what we demand from those who cover our sport.It's sad that, in 2012, we have to combine the excitement of the radio audio and the TV video in order to watch a race if we're not at the track.Just my opinion.....(and JD, thanks for staying around and giving us this forum)TMG

The race played out pretty much as I predicted: He who got in front checked out and that is why the areo/parity obsession sucks, but I am happy for Kasey Kahne and for Jeff Gordon. Both needed a confidence builder. I am, at the same time, sorry for Weasley's gas man. Poor fellow. May well be on his way to Azkaban.

The high point of the race from my point of view and the take away memory was not on the track, but in the pits and it was not the poor doomed gas man. Rather it was Smoke's recovery from getting turned around. That was just neat and so, so Tony Stewart: Shift, Turn, Floor It, Shift Turn, Floor it, Stand on the Brake.

Technically, There were some wider shots, particularly the camera at the Turn 1 end of the quad oval. That is a good location and they used it. At the same time they had a blimp, but if you blinked you missed the shots from it. Then there was the extensive coverage of Danica's Driving School, but I will not go there now. Nor will I waste but just a mention on the curious phenomenon of the "amped" up suddenly open crowd microphone that occurs any time Junior gets near or in P1. I will, though, mention Marcos Ambrose. I found myself rooting for him until his car broke down. It would be so fun to see him win.

I refused to let DW bother me. It had been too fine a day. The man cannot let anyone talk without having to add his comments after they finish -- or butt in before they are finished.

And finally, here is an observation: I wondered why the SxS ads on the Indianapolis race did not bother me as much as the ones on FOX. FOX did a good job last night coming back fast to full screen out of them so that was not it -- something I had congratulated ESPN on at the 500 -- and the boxes uses on both nets were the same size. So what was the difference? Two differences: Volume and Position. On FOX the volume of the ads was higher I think. I could be wrong, but I believe it was. As for position, and perhaps this is just me, ESPN put the race box on the LEFT and FOX put it on the RIGHT. Maybe it is the way my brain works, but racing on the left and commercial on the right makes the ad less intrusive even thought the box is smaller. I may not should say this since though those in the truck do not listen to us on ways to improve coverage, but I far they might in this case as it may be better for their advertisers, but it is my opinion.

Right off the bat "Unknown" stole my thunder. I'll be blunt; making the side-by-side a two-box commercial was like giving the middle finger to JD and us. FOX knows there is no alternative to watch the race, given their online embargo.

All the other bad about the FOX coverage has already been said. There HAD to be some racing SOMEWHERE on the track!? But they, and those that follow, will have to work around these cars that simply cannot race each other.

Maybe the drivers and teams are too good and everything works too well. But IMO NASCAR has to come up with a "DRS" type of technology on cookie-cutters or in time they'll lose all their viewers. I wish I had an answer.

Church duties forced me to watch Indy on a 2-hour DVR delay, so I didn't try out their version of RaceBuddy; sounds like it was excellent. My only criticisms on ESPN/ABC were the cuts to in-cars during passing, but thankfully they knew enough to stay wide on Sato's futile Lap 200 attempt. I also wanted to know sooner if Sato was OK.

Well, dear, you didn't miss a thing. Same ole same. The telecast would be sooo much better if the racing was better! Nascar has these teams in such a box, where ingenuity is punished and all the cars are the same, so no wonder it's single file racing for 600 miles. But then add the disaster from the booth, and you end up with boredom.

Ole DW said one thing at the beginning of the race that just summed up the whole thing: "Man, they're 3 and 4 wide back in the pack!" And you know what the camera was showing - yup - the two cars in the lead.

And to top it off, my scanner wasn't working due to some mysterious computer issue, so I was pretty freaked until I got that figured out, around lap 100.

Did anyone catch DW yesterday when Jeff Gordon either didn't pit or only took 2 tires while leading under caution(can't remember which)? DW said, "he's going to end up falling back to 6th-10th". Then when the green flag dropped, Gordon only fell back to 4th! lol. DW then said, "like I said, he was going to fall back to 4th", or something like that.

I can't believe that guy. DW just can't admit when he's wrong. I thought it was terrible, and I'm not even a Gordon fan.

I also agree with the other posters. FOX could learn a lot from ABC's coverage of the Indy 500. They are professionals from the analysts to the cameramen, to the production truck.

We are usually at the INDY 500, but not this year. ABC/ESPN did an awesome job with the prerace. Moved by the Wheldon piece and thought all the other pieces were excellent. What a contrast to FOX, with the loud, loutish, goofball approach. The race held our attention as well. Was it perfect. No. I don't expect perfection from a live event. But I know they kept me interested and fairly well informed. Most important, the racing was close. I hope the new cars in NASCAR next year fix that problem and can run close and generate more passing.

On to the Coke 600. As usual watched on DVR. Lasted about a 100 laps, then switched to HotPass. Someday I want to watch a race on the full screen of my HDTV!

Also, did something I never do. Left the DVR running while I went to kitchen for something. Then I started cleaning up the kitchen.

Came back didn't rewind. Left the room several other times without pausing.

Not sure anyone could have made something exciting out of this race.

Never more bored. Thank goodness it was the fastest 600 ever.

The FOX team did nothing to even attempt to make it interesting. Agree with previous poster about DW calling out "they're 3 wide" and the camera focused on 2 cars in a tight shot.

That about sums it up.

Truly believe nothing will change. FOX haa their plan and they are sticking to it.

I watched some of the Monaco race yesterday and thought it was great, watched a some of the v8 Supercars and though they were great, watched a bit of the indy race, bored, watched 1/2 of the 600 and was bored. Thinking about it, why was the Monaco and the V8 race interesting and not the indy and 600? Then i realized why, it wasnt the racing it was the unpredictabilty of it. I didn't know the racers, I didnt know the track, and I didnt know the broadcasters. This is probably the biggest problem that Nascar, FOX, TNT and ESPN have to face, the races are too dang predictabile and hence very boring. We need more racing and less driving. Whether that is more mystery cautions, mandatory cautions, etc, something to get them racing and not driving I am not sure. And on the broadcast side, they need to stop trying to make a boring race exciting. If it is boring we know it, so maybe they should talk about other stuff instead of throwing in the random "3 wide" that we never see.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. I used twitter and trackpass to follow the race. I had the TV on mute.

I did tune in for the invocation & anthem - not sure why DW was called on to do it, maybe preacher gibbs wasn't available?

Seemed like a pretty uneventful race and nothing new for the Fox telecast. Since as I said I had the TV muted, so I wasn't listening to the booth. I doubt that I missed much w/o the sound.

I was happy that my favorite, Jeff Gordon had a good finish. It was a nice change and the good news is that since it was a very quick race, with few yellow flags, I was able to get to bed before 11 a.m.

Got up early to do yard work.

I watched the Indy 500 in its entirety with the sound on and it was interesting and I felt informed. Nice job, I hope that ESPN will bring that same effort to their NASCAR coverage this season.

To any one reading the column who is active military or a veteran, thank you for your service.

I'll be at Dover next weekend so I will have another Fox free weekend.

The Loose Wheel - I figured they wouldn't show the 24, which is why I followed his charge via trackpass. It's pretty bad when his scanner AND a bunch of cartoon cars tell me more about what is happening during a race than a full blown TV production.

Only watched the first 20 or so laps and the finish. Just knowing the Waltrip Bros were on just made me not watch the race.

I will notice that this time it did look like the first half of the field was shown crossing the line at the finish. Maybe by the time I to old to watch the changes I pray for will come to be.

Looking forward to the rest of the season without FOX.

Make note, I watched only the begining and end of the race. too bad for the companies that paid for all the commericals that i missed for four hours or so. Darn, the only commerical I really remember was the one w/hutch on the go daddy deal on the 500. so much for impact

I did watch part of this race on the day they ran. I DVRd it and started watching about an hour after the green flag. I figured I might catch up with live racing after fast-forwarding through the commercials.

Well, I kept dozing off and rewinding to see what I had missed. Pretty soon, my wife was laughing at me for dozing through so much of the "race"...was there any racing? If so, I may have missed it.

I watched the entire race today in less than an hour...double speed through the "racing" and 4x speed through the commercials. Didn't miss much, I'm sure.

Disappointed in the coverage from yesterday. I was over at the neighbors' and checked in on the race every few laps. Did it about 5 times over the course of an hour or so and only about once did I come and see racing, not commercials. FOX needs to find a better way of airing commercials and not go by a constant pattern. Also, I thought DW talking so highly about Danica was ridiculous, him standing up for her is stupid. Until she can start running well, my thoughts will remain at that.

Unknown said......Fox tries to sell us "side by side". What the actually give us is more ads! Show a Farmers commercial side by side with the 5 car...show a Bud ad side by side with the 29...they must think we are idiots!!

I'm watching the last 75 laps....I fell asleep last night....wow, that is really egregious.

The booth's defense of Danica is getting somewhat embarrassing. There's a much less ridiculous way of defending Danica than saying that "oh, she's achieving her very modest goals, which are to run all the laps—well, actually, she's finishing all the races, and staying out of peoples' way, y'know!" (I am heavily paraphrasing it, but that was the gist of one of DW's statements last night.) Danica herself isn't satisfied with her runs; she doesn't want to finish six laps down every week. Rather than say she's running well in Cup, when she's clearly NOT, acknowledge that the transition's been harder than she expected, talk occasionally about her gradual improvement (maybe her Nationwide efforts) and DON'T FIXATE ON HER UNTIL SHE BEGINS TO RUN WELL.

What the Racing media doesn't want to admit is that Danica is scamming the Nascar racing community. The problem isn't her 'transitioning' to Nascar. The problem is that she is a mediocre talent that wouldn't have a NNS or Sprint Cup ride if she were a man.Open Wheel drivers like Montoya and Hornish Jr. can drive circles around her and haven't exactly set the Cup world on fire. Danica rides around in the back, almost never passes a car on the track and takes millions of dollars a year to the bank. Who are the fools? It's not politically correct to criticize her. She got punted around by Ambrose and others Sunday because she was just getting in the way. Having built and maintained the race cars I once drove, the people I feel sorry for are her NNS and Cup teams. They have to bust their butts and sit and watch top shelf equipment ride around 5 laps down. The Nascar media should give her credit for anything worth highlighting, but ignore her like everyone else when she has distinguished herself.

On top of all the other comments that I totally agree with, I can't stand the over boosted screaming guitar music that Fox plays while the announcers are taking us through the field. You can hardly hear what they are saying? I noticed it back several races ago, but it's the same every week. Is it just my tv, or does anyone else hear the same problem?

In the last sentance of my 6:43 am post I mean't to say "hasn't" distinguished herself.Sorry. It was reported Danica is considering running Indy and the Charlotte 600 next Memorial Day. Can you imagine the Media circus that would be? But hey, just think about how much money she could make! I apologize for sounding so cynical, but regardless of the topic or news source in this Country,you just can't find many people giving you the unvarnished truth. That is except the TDP'ers!!

Anon 1:37 pm Agree about the hype that would result from the media if DP decides to attempt to do the double.

If she does decide, I will simply not watch either race.

When she first came on the Indycar scene, I watched and hoped for her to have success. Since her foot stamping deals and the fact that it is all about the $ for her - I'm no longer interested in cheering for her. There are other female drivers out there that I would love to see have success.

Since I already mentioned the coverage, I want to say a little on the Danica-mania. I do not think she is a horrible driver. But like annon said, better drivers have come over to NASCAR and failed. Look at Dario. He has pretty much dominated Indycar since he came back and were it not for a lack of sponsorship he may have well succeeded at NASCAR. Montoya is more established, runs around 20th here. Hornish, more established and runs Nationwide after a rough few first Cup seasons.

Kudos to her for having a sponsor and a marketing machine that can keep her name out there. If you have it in this day and age and can use it, do it. All the SHR racing car stunk at Charlotte, Danica was no different. I respect her effort and believe she really does want to succeed. But, I wonder how far she ever really will go.

She sort of falls into that Paul Menard category. She has the bucks, heart and desire. But how far can that get you without results?

As I've posted here many times, Nascar is NOT interested in Racing. They want to put on a show that attracts eyeballs. Everyone supported the COT from a safety standpoint. The technical aspects of the car have to be the single most costly series of miscues in Sports history. I initially supported the Chase, but it soon proved to be a Marketing gimmick where a blown engine,pit road miscue or someone else's wreck could negate a Season's hard work. We'd all like to see women drivers suceed in Nascar. Remember Shirley Muldowney? She was Top Fuel Champ YEARS ago. As for Paul Menard, I first thought he was just playing with Dad's money, but he turned out to be a solid racer who won Indy. Having raced, I watch Danica and lots of drivers closely. She almost never races anyone. At the start, she drops back and finds a hole where there is no one anywhere around her and she just rides while they drop out in front of her. If you watch her, her moves on the track are sluggish,tentative and stiff as if she's not sure what the car will do. Her interviews are ones for the ages. A few weeks ago, she melted a bead on her right front tire. In the post race interview, she said that Goodyear told her that she "melted something"! I'm with Gina. If she runs both Memorial Day races, I will not watch such a carnival. It was bad enough when Tony Stewart did it years ago. Christ, they were interviewing his physical trainer! Nascar and the Networks will bring back viewers with RACING, not fluff in my humble opinion

WOW, how did SPEED screw up showing W Tunnel early on the biggest race day of the year? My VCR only caught the last 1/2 hour that I watched the next day. Too late for repeat :(

But, speaking of in car cam mania, did ANYBODY hear Dave Despain say to Franchitti "Due to the in car obsession with ABC's director we missed a great pass you made" . . Wow. Despain mentioned it about an Indycar race but NEVER a NASCAR race?

Oh, yea, he works for SPEED/Fox.

Did anybody see that besides me?

I'm super bummed I got cheated out of the rerun by watching the dvr show the next day.